The legions of New Serrana have a sacred custom: when a legionnaire falls in battle, a member of their company must bear the body home to the dead soldier's family. Albaro Ceynos is the only surviving member of his company. He'd been garrisoned at Presidio Los Primos, known as the realm's safest assignment, until a fabled monster emerged from legend, crept down from the mountains, and laid waste to the old fortress.
Now, with one horse, one wagon, one sword, and all his slain brethren, Albaro the bonebearer roams a decaying empire, bringing home his comrades' remains. As he meets an array of mourners who move him to question past choices and future commitments, he'll reveal how the tragedy unfolded, death by death, and how it is that he yet lives.
ADVANCE PRAISE:
"A deeply imagined and beautifully written blend of travelogue, memorial, and fantastical history amid an unfolding mystery of what really happened to the tale-teller's comrades. A story to savor." — Kate Elliott, author of The Witch Roads
Like Denis Johnson's Train Dreams, what at first appear to be random episodes are, rather, perfectly pitched personal histories that fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces. But here we're in a 10th century world where the fantasy elements assemble so quietly you might miss them. Most highly recommended."
— Gregory Frost, author of Rhymer and Shadowbridge
"An addictive read. Story by story, a fascinating world is revealed, at times heartbreaking, comic, or terrifying, but always compassionate and original. A fantasy has never felt so real, its people so true." — Sue Burke, author of Semiosis
"Astonishing and strange, sublime little gems both surreal and somehow perfectly true! . . . The language was stunning, luring me into these gorgeous gems of Albaro's arrival to each bereaved family, which surprised me every time. The fantasy only heightens the excavation of the human soul." — Brenda Peynado, author of the PKD Award-winning Time's Agent
"The Book of the Jaguar is literary magic, weaving together the crushing weight of colonial history, the pure inventiveness of Victor Ladis Schultz's fantastical world, and the full emotional range of grief and the life that continues despite it all. This debut is a truly revolutionary work of memory and imagination."
— Michael Welch, editor of On an Inland Sea
